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The world’s largest supplier of automotive semiconductors, NXP Semiconductors NV, and its various partners are showcasing the progress of secure intelligent transport and connected vehicle systems at this year’s Electronica show, the world’s leading trade fair for electronic components, systems and applications, which is taking place on November 8-11 in Munich, Germany.

The demonstrations featuring NXP’s systems will include: platooning live on Munich roads; traffic signal and vehicle synchronization; and technology that protects vulnerable road users based on secure vehicle-to-everything technology (V2X).

NXP and DAF Trucks will showcase truck platooning on Munich’s city streets, with the inclusion of intelligent traffic lights from Siemens that automatically adapt signaling timings based on the truck convoy’s location, thus significantly improving the traffic flow. NXP, together with Honda, Siemens, Marben, Cohda Wireless and Chemtronics, will be putting on other live demonstrations in Munich, which will include secure V2X use cases, such as the detection/warning of motorcycles for improved safety. An autonomous car built by the University of Eindhoven using NXP sensor fusion technology will also be at the event.

NXP, Ricardo, TNO, and DAF Trucks, which are all members of the EcoTwin Truck Platooning Project, are in the research phase aiming to reduce the distance between platooning trucks by another 40% in 2017. NXP and DAF Trucks have also announced plans to empower truck platoons to react 30 times faster than humans next year. Achieving this goal would mark a significant milestone in the introduction of platooning to fleet operators who expect considerable efficiency and safety gains, while maintaining a maximum level of data security. Platooning promises to increase fuel efficiency up to 10%, improve road safety, and reduce exhaust emissions, including CO₂, PM (Particulate Matter) and NOx.

NXP, DAF Trucks, TNO and Ricardo previously achieved a breakthrough platooning distance of 0.5 seconds between trucks. While platooning at 50mph (80km/h), trucks that were linked wirelessly via V2X technology, along with high-performance camera and radar systems, were able to maintain a distance of 36 feet (11m) flawlessly. The consortium is now cooperating to further bring down the minimum distance between trucks by another 40%, which equates to 0.3 seconds or 23 feet (7m) at 50mph (80km/h). In this new context, the platooning system will need to reliably react 30 times faster than a human driver. This requires the wireless communication between trucks to take place in the timeframe of milliseconds.

“Together with our smart transportation partners, we have completed more than one million test days globally in secure vehicle-to-X communications based on our RoadLINK solution,” said Kurt Sievers, general manager at NXP Automotive. “Our tests have shown the maturity and strong security levels of RoadLINK, which is being deployed in its first production cars. These demonstrations with DAF Trucks, Siemens, Honda, and other partners, underscore the power of ultra-fast, secure and direct communication between traffic participants.”